Have you ever admired a monument without knowing its history? Do you always bring a guide in your pocket?

“I do not look for, I find,” Madrid Monument Tracker responds immediately to the curiosity of the moment. In collaboration with the Tourist Office of Madrid and Heritage Service, this application makes your life easier and shows you automatically the history of the 198 monuments & sites around you, wherever you are, in an exhaustive way.

Strengths of the application:

– Revolutionary, unique and very easy to use: you start the application and you are alerted and informed directly of monuments to which you pass by during your walk: it’s magic!
– Internet connection is not required so no roaming costs.
– Augmented Reality
– Geolocation
– Texts, dates and photos
– Vocalization of contents for iPhone
– An amazing and complete database, never seen before: places, monuments, facades, statues, fountains, art works, cultural events and anecdotes …
– Total freedom, wander where you want, no mandatory itineraries, history is everywhere and effortlessly …
– The partnership with the Madrid Tourist Office and Heritage Service of the cities guarantees the seriousness of the information.
– Essential information: time, historical background and anecdotes,
– Do not look for, Monument Tracker finds for and alerts you: a real innovation
– No ads, 100% cultural
– Regular updates and enhancements
– Multilingual
– An impressive ease of use
– For iPhone, iPod touch & iPad

Download your version

Top 10 Madrid monuments

The Monument Tracker team selected a list of monuments available in the application Monument Tracker Madrid.

La Cathédrale de la Almudena

imposing temple whose construction began in the late nineteenth century, it was part of the Royal Palace complex. The cathedral was built on the remains of a medieval church of the same name. Madrid dependent on the Diocese of Toledo, was not equipped with a cathedral until Alfonso XII laid the first stone in 1883. The building met all the possible difficulties, including administrative, economic and religious, and it was only in 1993 that the new church was consecrated by Pope John Paul II, dethroning the Collegiate Church of San Isidro, which had been elevated to cathedral throughout this period. The duration of the work explains the mixture of styles of the building, which combines Romanesque Revival of the crypt, the Gothic nave and neoclassical exterior, more in harmony with the neighboring palace.

Crystal Palace

Built in 1887 by Ricardo Velázquez Bosco, on the occasion of the Philippine Islands Exhibition (at that time still a Spanish colony). Inspired by the Crystal Palace in London, the palace is a large greenhouse of metal and glass at the edge of an artificial lake. Some species that are cultivated there have also rooted in the lake and are accessible by a submerged staircase. In addition to the most representative flora of the Philippines, was imported on this occasion a native tribe who lived in shacks and the lake around the Palace. After completing the exhibition, the Government decided to keep the monument now under the Ministry of Culture, which regularly organizes exhibitions of contemporary art.

Debod Temple

This old temple of 2000 years was ceded by Egypt to Spain in 1968. Located in Debod originally in Nubia, threatened by the construction of the Aswan Dam, he was saved from destruction by this donation. Built under Adijalamani (200 a. BC), he pays tribute to Amon and Isis. We observe decorations of the Ptolemaic and Roman era additions such as room dedicated to Horus. The lost parts were rebuilt in the image ..

Sun Gate

This “door” is actually a place which is considered the center of the city, although this is not the case. From this square many streets and avenues and this point was officially designated in the 50s as the “kilometer zero” from which all national calculate distances. Originally, it was actually an entry from the medieval walls that encircled the city. Located east, she was symbolized by a rising sun, hence its name. She was one of the main meeting places of the city thanks to its location close to the Royal House of Posts which came the news.

he Oriental Place

Between the Royal Palace, the Theatre and the Monastery of the Incarnation, it is one of the most famous in the city. The Royal Palace is also known as the Palace of the Orient. Imagined under the Napoleonic occupation, it was only built in 1844 on the old orchards of the Monastery and ancient medieval houses. In its center is the equestrian statue of Philip IV, bronze work signed by Pietro Tacca, first statue of a horse standing on its hind legs. Place is shaped three gardens (central, del Cabo Noval and Lepanto) among whom, in two rows of ten, are the statues of the first Spanish monarch known as “Gothic kings.” These statues were part of a larger group spread today.

Piazza Maggiore

If today’s Square is considered the center, she was the fifteenth century outside the walled city and was called Place de Arrabal. Meeting point of various paths from the provinces, it was a market place. It was celebrated bullfights as well as public executions or religious acts. Completed in 1619, the place has been repeatedly modified, notably following three major fires in 1631, 1670 and 1790.

Porte de Alcalá

It was built in 1778 for King Charles III by Sabatini, replacing an arch built in 199 ac considered too ordinary to be done a masterful entrance. Larger than a traditional arc of triumph, it is composed of three arches and two doors that opened the old city walls. The door was equipped with gates that controlled access. It is decorated with several statues including the four cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. It represented the western entrance to the city from Alcalá de Henares, and lies on a genuine path transhumance. A hit song sung by Ana Belen and Victor Manuel tells the story.

Basilica of St. Francis the Great

The church was built between 1760 and 1784 on the site of a monastery founded by St. Francis of Assisi in 1217. neoclassical work of Francisco Cabezas y Francesco Sabatini, it is characterized by its dome 33 meters wide, the statues its balustrade, the domes of its six chapels and bell towers of its 19 bells. The interior is amazing with its collection of old masters, his 12 apostles of Carrara marble, murals of its rotunda Gothic choir, the organ from 1884. Elevated to the rank of minor basilica in 1962 and fully restored in the XX century, it is one of the most beautiful churches in Europe.

The Prado Museum

One of the most famous museums in the world, even if it exposes a small part of its collections, lack of space (just 12%). It contains the largest collections of Velazquez, Goya, Titian, favorite painters of the Spanish sovereigns since Philip II, as well as many other European artists of the sixteenth to the nineteenth century which Rubens, El Bosco, Vermeer, Caravaggio …. It contains the largest collection of Spanish paintings with nearly 5,000 rooms including several of El Greco. In very poor condition for lack of maintenance, the museum still experienced major repairs, improvements and expansion at the end of the twentieth century (Cubo Moneo), adding 50% of exhibition space and to preserve its immeasurable treasure. He currently manages the “Casón del Buen Retiro” and the “Salón de Reinos” located in the nearby Retiro Park, where temporary exhibitions.

Arena Las ventas

With those of Seville, Madrid arenas are among the most prestigious in the world. Jose Espeliú work, the arenas were inaugurated in 1934 when the bullfights were at their peak. They can contain nearly 24,000 spectators who spend fortunes for a spot in the shade during the bullfighting season between March and October, especially during the famous Fair of Saint Isidro, patron of the city, in the month of May. Bullfighting enthusiasts will also find a museum. They bear the name of the locality infamous on which they are built, sold property to the city by a family of farmers. Many artists here regularly.